It is often appropriate in many surgical procedures to selectively remove small portions of body tissue. This is indicated, for example, with regard to tissue that may be diseased or damaged. It may be necessary to remove diseased or damaged tissue so that remaining tissue can heal and/or to prevent spread of a disease to healthy tissue. As another example, it is sometimes beneficial to remove tissue that is being compressed or otherwise impinged upon by other body structures. By removing the impinged tissue, it is often possible to alleviate patient discomfort. One specific example of such a procedure is a facet debridement performed on a cervical, thoracic or lumbar facet joint of a human spine. During a facet debridement, the synovial capsule between facets is removed so as to denude the bone and deinervate the joint.
Various types of instruments are available to remove tissue as part of a surgical procedure. Some types of tissue can be effectively removed using electro-ablative techniques. In particular, electrical energy heats an instrument cutting tip that is used to burn away unwanted tissue. Some types of tissue, however, are more effectively removed by mechanical cutting action of a blade, grinder or other type of instrument.
When removing tissue, it is often necessary to cauterize remaining tissue. This cauterization may be needed to stop bleeding, to prevent regrowth of removed tissue, and/or for other purposes. When using electro-ablative techniques, cauterization and tissue removal can often be performed simultaneously. With mechanical cutting instruments, however, a separate cauterization instrument is needed. This often means that a surgeon must revisualize the operative site after changing instruments and locate the area to be cauterized. This can be especially problematic in laparoscopic procedures. Specifically, the surgeon must remove the grinder or other mechanical cutting instrument from a cannula, inserts a cauterization instrument, and then cauterize the appropriate region.